Sun Restaurant Buffalo unveils black rice bar with mayor on hand

Three years ago, Sun Restaurant Buffalo was just another Niagara Street Asian market selling soup.

Since then, Stephanie and Kevin Lin have turned it into a Burmese restaurant that lures crowds to 1989 Niagara St. for dishes they can’t find elsewhere. The Lins’ place has won Best Asian accolades from Buffalo Spree and Artvoice readers.

Thursday, the Lins, Burmese-born American citizens who spent their first decade in the U.S. as supermarket sushi rollers, hosted the mayor, a state senator and two City Council members at a ribbon-cutting for their restaurant’s newest feature. It’s a black rice bar, featuring a dark, nutty type of rice thought to have healthful properties in Chinese medicine.

Mayor Byron Brown, State Sen. Mark Grisanti and Council Members Joseph Golombek Jr. and David Rivera were on hand to congratulate the Lins.

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Last year, Falynn Koch sold her house in Savannah, Ga., and moved back to Buffalo to open a mac and cheese truck called FallyMac. After some culinary classes, the 2003 Nichols School grad decided she’d learn more running a food truck than spending her money on culinary school.

“I knew if I bought the truck, there was no sink or swim – there’s only swim,” she said.

Last week, she sold her first dishes of jacked-up macaroni and cheese. Customers can choose from different types, like “super cheesy,” caramelized onion or creamy sausage, and customize them, adding Cincinnati chili, flavored breadcrumbs, french fried onions and more, $4-$8. There’s even a vegan gluten-free version.

Koch said she’s going to weather the winter by emphasizing takeout hit-and-run missions, with servings packed to go.

If you’re interested, you can hit FallyMac between 5 and 8 p.m. Friday by the Globe Market, 1416 Hertel Ave. But as always with food trucks, follow on Facebook or Twitter (@FallyMac716) for last-minute confirmation.

On the Web: Everything you want to know about local food trucks at BuffaloNews.com.

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Just in case you’re wondering, Scharf’s Schiller Park is still open. Last year, a Buffalo News story reporting that owner Jerry Scharf was planning to close brought a flood of customers.

That July, “We had our best month ever in the history of Scharf’s,” said Scharf, whose parents opened the Schiller Park German place in 1967.

This year, he’s not sounding the alarm – we reached out to him, actually – but he’s watching business fade again post-Oktoberfest. So if you were one of many who thought they’d like to go to Scharf’s again at least once but never quite made it – and I know a few – this is your reminder.